Genesis 26

In case you might think he was talking about that previous famine, accordingly he added, "besides the famine in the patriarch's time," that is to say, another similar famine beset the land in Isaac's time as in his father's time. The scarcity of the necessities of life threw everyone into great apprehension, compelled them to leave their own home and travel to those places where it was possible to find an abundance of resources.Hence this good man too, on seeing the famine, "took the journey," the text says, "to visit Abimelech in Gerar." This was where Abraham came too, you remember, after his return from Egypt.

Now it is likely that Isaac also made for there on account of his intention to continue on from there into Egypt; for proof of this, listen to what Scripture says: "God appeared to him and said, 'Don't go down into Egypt.' " I do not want you to make that long journey, he is saying, but to stay here. Instead of allowing you to experience that hardship, I am going to put into effect the promise made to your father; the promises to him will be fulfilled in you, and you will experience the pledges to him. "Don't go down into Egypt but dwell in the land that I show you, and be a sojourner in that land."

Lest the good man think it was out of a wish for him to experience the hardship of famine that God gave this direction not allowing him to go into Egypt, God said, Don't be distressed; don't be concerned—stay here: "I will be with you." You have the supplier of all good things, so entertain no concern. After all, I the Lord of all will be with you—and not only that, but "I will bless you." That is to say, I will make you prosperous and provide you with blessing from myself. What could be more blessed than this good man in receiving such a wonderful promise from God, "I will be with you and bless you?" … But how will I bless you? "To you and your descendants I will give this land." You think you are visiting these parts as a stranger and nomad; know that to you and your descendants all this land will be given. That you may have confidence, realize that "the oath I swore to your father Abraham" I will fulfill in you.Observe God's considerateness; he did not simply say, "The covenant I made with your father, nor the promises I made"; instead, what? "The oath I swore." "I assured him with an oath," he is saying, "and I must put my oath into effect and bring it to fulfillment." Do you see God's loving kindness? His words are uttered not with a view to his own dignity but out of considerateness of our limitations.

And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. [Genesis 26:4] Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. [Genesis 26:4] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Then he teaches Isaac what it was he promised and the things about which God had given him confirmation. "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven." This, you remember, he had said to the patriarch as well, that his descendants would be so numerous as to be compared with the stars and the sand: "I will give all this land to your descendants," he said, "and in your descendants will all the nations of the earth be blessed." Hence the promises made to him I will fulfill in you, "for the reason that your father Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my commands, my judgments and my laws." See God's wisdom in stirring up the good man's thinking, making him more enthusiastic and having the effect of rendering him an imitator of his father. After all, God is saying, if Abraham was judged worthy of such a wonderful promise for obeying my voice, on account of his virtue I am about to fulfill it in you, the child born to him. And if you yourself become an imitator of him and tread in his path, consider the degree of favor you will enjoy from me and the care you will be accorded. I mean, the man destined to prosper for someone else's virtue will be accorded much greater favor if he himself proves virtuous.

For this is that nation which God of old promised to Abraham, when He declared that He would make him a father of many nations; not meaning, however, the Arabians, or Egyptians, or Idumaeans, since Ishmael became the father of a mighty nation, and so did Esau; and there is now a great multitude of Ammonites. Noah, moreover, was the father of Abraham, and in fact of all men; and others were the progenitors of others. What larger measure of grace, then, did Christ bestow on Abraham? This, namely, that He called him with His voice by the like calling, telling him to quit the land wherein he dwelt. And He has called all of us by that voice, and we have left already the way of living in which we used to spend our days, passing our time in evil after the fashions of the other inhabitants of the earth; and along with Abraham we shall inherit the holy land, when we shall receive the inheritance for an endless eternity, being children of Abraham through the like faith. For as he believed the voice of God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, in like manner we having believed God's voice spoken by the apostles of Christ, and promulgated to us by the prophets, have renounced even to death all the things of the world. Accordingly, He promises to him a nation of similar faith, God-fearing, righteous, and delighting the Father; but it is not you, "in whom is no faith."

Observe, too, how the same promises are made to Isaac and to Jacob. For thus He speaks to Isaac: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And to Jacob: "And in thee and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed." He says that neither to Esau nor to Reuben, nor to any other; only to those of whom the Christ should arise, according to the dispensation, through the Virgin Mary. But if you would consider the blessing of Judah, you would perceive what I say. For the seed is divided from Jacob, and comes down through Judah, and Phares, and Jesse, and David. And this was a symbol of the fact that some of your nation would be found children of Abraham, and found, too, in the lot of Christ; but that others, who are indeed children of Abraham, would be like the sand on the sea-shore, barren and fruitless, much in quantity, and without number indeed, but bearing no fruit whatever, and only drinking the water of the sea.

Isaac is a patriarch who had no second wife, nor any concubine, but was content with the twins who were the fruit of a single intercourse. He too had the same fears as his father of the perilous beauty of his wife when he lived among strangers, and he too called her sister without a word about her being his wife, since in fact she was nearly related on the paternal and the maternal side. And Rebekah too was safe, once it was known that she was his wife. Not, however, that we should esteem him higher than his father for knowing no woman other than his single wife; undoubtedly the merits of his father's faith and obedience were so much greater that it was because of the father that God was so good to the son.

But what is the meaning of "for the reason that he obeyed my voice and kept my commands, my orders, and my judgments"? I said to Abraham, "Go forth from your country and your kindred, onward to a land that I will show you." He left what he had and set off for an uncertain goal. He did not dally or delay; instead, with complete enthusiasm, Abraham obeyed my call and carried out my commands. In turn I promised him things beyond nature and, despite his despair on the score of age and the unsuitability for childbearing on the part of himself and your mother, he heard from me that his descendants would develop into such a great number as to fill the whole land. Yet he did not become deranged in mind or lose faith. Hence it was reckoned as righteousness in Abraham to trust in my power and have confidence in my promises.…After your birth your mother was ill disposed toward her maidservant's child Ishmael and wanted to drive him out of the house with Hagar so that he should have nothing in common with you. The patriarch had some natural inclination toward him out of his fatherly affection; but when he heard from me, "Do what Sarah wants," he ignored his natural affection and drove out Ishmael along with the maidservant, obeying my call and keeping my commands in every detail. I mean, when he received the ultimate command from me to offer up as a sacrifice the son he so much desired, the gift of his old age, Abraham did not pry into the reasons. Neither was he disturbed in his thinking; nor did he betray the news to your mother or reveal to you what was about to be done by him. Instead, with steadfast resolve and heightened zeal, he pressed ahead to put my command into effect. So I rewarded his intention by preventing the execution of the deed. Since, then, he had in everything given evidence of complete obedience and observance of my commands, consequently I am making you, his child, the inheritor of the promises made to him. So imitate his obedience, and believe my words so as to be found worthy of a manifold reward for your father's virtue and also for your own obedience. Don't go down into Egypt; rather, stay here. Do you see God's loving kindness in strengthening Isaac's resolve through the memory of his father's virtue?

Those who assert that sometimes we must lie make inappropriate mention of Abraham as having lied about Sarah whom he called his sister. For he did not say "She is not my wife" but "She is my sister," because Sarah was in fact of a family so closely related that without lying she could be called his sister. This fact Abraham confirmed afterward when Sarah was returned by him who had led her away. Abraham replied to him, saying, "Also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother," that is to say, belonging to his father's family but not to his mother's. Thus he concealed something of the truth but did not say anything false in concealing the fact that she was his wife and in saying that she was his sister. His son Isaac also did this, for we know that he too chose a relative of his as wife. Hence it is not a lie when truth is passed over in silence but when falsehood is brought forth in speech.

Isaac means "rejoicing." The inquisitive king saw him playing with his wife and helpmate, Rebekah. The king (his name was Abimelech) represents, I believe, a wisdom above this world, looking down upon the mystery signified by such childlike playing. Rebekah means "submission." Oh, what prudent playing! Rejoicing joined to submission, with the king as audience. The Spirit exults in such merrymaking in Christ, attended with submissiveness. This is in truth godly childlikeness.…It is possible to interpret the meaning of the inspired Word in still another sense: that it refers to our rejoicing and making merry because of our salvation, like Isaac's. He rejoiced because he had been saved from death; that is why he played and rejoiced with his spouse, as we with our helpmate in salvation, the church. The church too has been given the reassuring name "submissive endurance," either because its enduring continues for all eternity in unending joy or because it is formed of the submission of those who believe: of us who are the members of Christ. The testimony given by those who have submissively endured until the end, and their gratitude as well, is a mystical playing; the helpmate of this holy gladness of heart is salvation. The king is Christ, looking down from above on our rejoicing and "peering through the door," as Scripture says, on our gratitude and benediction that works in us joy and cheerfulness with submission.

Now Isaac was there a long time. Abimelech looked out of the window and saw him fondling his wife, Rebekah; he summoned him and said to him, "So she is your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister?' " Since the good man was unmasked by this evidence, instead of dissembling any further, he admitted it and gave a clear explanation of why he brought himself to call her his sister. He said, "I was afraid I might be killed on her account; the fear of death drove me to this extreme."Perhaps, however, he had been forewarned, since Isaac's father too had saved his own life by devising such a stratagem, and, for this reason, Isaac followed the same path. The king, however, had a lively memory of what he had suffered in the case of the patriarch for abducting Sarah, and at once he admitted his liability to punishment from on high by saying to him, "Why did you do it? Some one of my people could easily have slept with your wife, whereas you would have had us be in ignorance." This deception, he is saying, we have already undergone at the hands of your father, and in the present case had we not quickly come upon the truth, we were on the verge of undergoing the same. "You would have let us be in ignorance." You see, that time too they were on the verge of sinning through ignorance, and this time you were within a hairsbreadth of causing us to fall into sin out of ignorance.

See God's providence; see his ineffable care. The One who had said, "Don't go down into Egypt; stay in this land, and I will be with you," was the one arranging all this and putting the good man in such a safe position. I mean, notice the king going to such trouble to ensure that he could live in peace and be free from all concern. After all, Abimelech threatened them all with death, the text says, "if anyone laid a hand on him or his wife." You see, since it was the fear—of death, I mean—that shook Isaac's resolve, consequently the loving Lord caused him to be rid of it and from then on to live in complete security. See the strange and remarkable thing in the way God, who is creative and wise and transforms everything according to his own wish and finds means where there are none, brings about in every way the security of his servants.Whence was it, after all … that this king showed such care for the good man, as if proclaiming his merits to all the inhabitants of the city and presenting him as a famous person and much admired by himself? In this way too Nebuchadnezzar, after casting the three children in the furnace and learning by experience the invincible power of the young men's virtue, began then to sing their praises and in every way to render them famous by his own tongue. This, after all, is a particular index of the abundance of God's power, when he causes his servants to be celebrated by their enemies. The man who with relish had the furnace lit and then saw that, on account of help from on high, the children's virtue survived even the fire's heat, was all at once changed, and he cried out, "Servants of God the most high."

(Chapter 26, verse 12) And Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold. Although Isaac sowed in a foreign land, I do not think that such fertility of barley would have been to him. Therefore, I think the Hebrew version is better, and even Aquila translated it: And he reaped in that year a hundredfold estimated, that is, ἑκατὸν εἰκασμένον. Although the same letters are used for both estimation and barley, the estimations are read as Saarim (), and the barleys as Sorim. But Scripture, however, seems to me to have shown in it the multiplication of all virtues, in that it has increased a hundredfold the type of fruits.

After these things it says "Isaac sowed barley, and found a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, and the man was magnified, and by his advance he became greater, until he became exceedingly great." What is this, that Isaac "sowed barley" and not wheat, and is blessed in that he sows "barley" and is magnified, "until he becomes great"? It appears therefore that he was not yet great, but after he "sowed barley" and gathered "a hundredfold," then "he became exceedingly great." Barley is especially the food of beasts of burden or of country slaves. For it is a rougher kind, and one which seems to prick the one touching it as if with certain points. Isaac is the word of God, which word in the law sows barley, in the Gospels wheat. For it prepares that food for the more perfect and spiritual, this for the more unskilled and animal, because it is written: "men and beasts you will save, O Lord." Isaac therefore, the word of the law, sows barley, and nevertheless in that very barley finds "a hundredfold fruit." For you find in the law also martyrs, whose is "the hundredfold fruit." But our Lord too, the Isaac of the Gospels, spoke all the more perfect things to the Apostles, but to the crowds plain and common things. But do you wish to see that He too sets forth the foods of barley for beginners? It is written in the Gospels that He fed the crowds a second time. But those whom He feeds first, that is, the beginners, He feeds with "barley loaves." But afterward, when they had now advanced in the word and in doctrine, He sets forth wheaten loaves for them.

(Verse 13.) And the Lord blessed him, and he became a great man, and he walked, going forth, and he was greatly magnified, until he became exceedingly great. But the abundance of barley, I do not know if it can make anyone glorious.

But after this "the Lord," it says, "blessed Isaac, and he became exceedingly great." Isaac was small in the law, but by the advance of time he becomes great. He becomes great by the advance of time in the prophets. For when he is in the law alone, he is not yet great, seeing that it is also covered with a veil. He grows therefore already in the prophets; but when he has come even to this, that he casts off the veil also, then he will be "exceedingly great." When the letter of the law begins to be separated out like the chaff of its barley, and it appears that "the law is spiritual," then Isaac will be magnified and will become "exceedingly great." For see that in the Gospels also the Lord breaks a few loaves, and how many thousands of peoples He refreshes "and how many baskets" of leftovers remain over. So long as the loaves are whole, no one is filled, no one is refreshed, nor do the loaves themselves seem to be increased. Consider therefore now how we break a few loaves: from the divine scriptures we take up a few sayings, and how many thousands of people are filled. But unless these loaves have been broken, unless they have been crumbled into parts by the disciples—that is, unless the letter has been minutely examined and broken—its meaning cannot reach to all. But when we have begun to handle them and to examine each single thing, then the crowds indeed will take up as much as they can. But that which they have not been able to take, is to be gathered and reserved, "lest anything perish." Do we too therefore save whatever the "crowds" cannot take, and gather it up again in "baskets" and "hampers"? Indeed, a little while ago, when we had broken the loaf concerning Jacob and Esau, how many fragments remained over from that loaf? Which we diligently gathered up again, lest they perish, and we save in "hampers" or "baskets," until we see what the Lord commands to be done even with them. But now, as far as is possible, let us either eat of the loaves or draw from the wells. Let us attempt to do also that which wisdom admonishes, saying: "drink waters from your own springs, and from your own wells, and let your own fountain be your own." Attempt therefore, you also, O hearer, to have your own well and your own fountain; that you too, when you have taken hold of the book of the scriptures, may begin even from your own understanding to bring forth some meaning, and according to those things which you have learned in the church, attempt you also to drink from the fountain of your own natural ability. There is within you the nature of "living water," there are perennial veins and irrigating streams of rational understanding, if only they be not filled up with earth and rubble. But be diligent to dig your earth and to purge the filth, that is, to remove the sloth of your natural ability and to shake off the torpor of your heart. For hear what the Scripture says: "prick the eye, and it will bring forth a tear; prick the heart, and it brings forth understanding." Purge therefore your natural ability also, that one day you too may drink from your own springs and draw "living water" from your own wells. For if you have received into you the Word of God, if you have received from Jesus "living water" and have received it faithfully, there will be made in you "a fountain of water springing up into eternal life," in that same Jesus Christ our Lord, "to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen."

Do you wish to know how "increase" is to be understood? Hear what Isaac did, of whom it is said: "Isaac went forward and became greater, until he became great, or exceedingly great indeed". For his will, ever stretching itself toward better things, had its advances, his mind contemplated something more divine, and he exercised himself in memory, so as to store up more things in his treasury and retain them more firmly. And in this manner it comes about that whoever has cultivated all his virtues in the field of his soul fulfills the commandment enjoining: "increase".

There are, then, wells which the servants of Abraham dug, but these the Philistines had filled with earth. These, therefore, Isaac first sets about to cleanse. The Philistines hate waters, they love earth; Isaac loves waters, he always seeks wells, he cleanses the old, he opens the new. Behold our Isaac, who "was offered as a victim for us," coming into the valley of Gerar, which is interpreted as "a wall" or "a hedge"—coming, I say, that he might "break down the middle wall of the hedge, the enmities in his flesh"—coming to take away the wall, that is, sin, which separates between us and God, the wall which stands between us and the heavenly powers, that he might make "both one" and carry back the sheep that had strayed "upon his shoulders" to the mountains and restore it to the other "ninety-nine that had not strayed." This Isaac, then, our Savior, when he had come into that valley of Gerar, wills first of all to dig those wells which the servants of his father had dug; that is, he wills to renew the wells of the law and the prophets, which the Philistines had filled with earth. Who are these who fill the wells with earth? Those, without doubt, who place an earthly and carnal understanding in the law and shut up the spiritual and mystical, so that neither do they themselves drink nor permit others to drink. Hear our Isaac, the Lord Jesus, saying in the Gospels: "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, because you have taken away the key of knowledge, and neither did you enter yourselves nor did you permit those who wished." These, then, are they who filled with earth the wells "which the servants of Abraham had dug," who teach the law carnally and defile the waters of the Holy Spirit; who have wells for this purpose, not that they may bring forth water, but that they may put earth in. These wells, then, Isaac sets about to dig. And let us see how he digs them. When Isaac's servants, who are the Apostles of our Lord, were passing, it says, through the grainfields on the sabbath, "they plucked the ears and, rubbing them with their hands, ate them." Then these men, who had filled with earth his father's wells, said to him: "Behold, your disciples do on the sabbath what is not lawful." He, that he might dig their earthly understanding, says to them: "Have you not read what David did, when he himself was hungry and those who were with him—how he entered to Abiathar the priest, and ate the bread of the presentation, he and his servants, which it was not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?" And to these words he adds: "If you had known what this is: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would never have condemned the innocent." But what do they reply to these things? They quarreled with his servants and say: "This man is not from God, who does not keep the sabbaths." In this manner, then, Isaac digs the wells "which the servants of his father had dug." A servant of his father was Moses, who had dug the well of the law; servants of his father were David and Solomon and the prophets, and any others who had written the books of the Old Testament, which the earthly and sordid understanding of the Jews had filled up. When Isaac wished to cleanse this understanding and to show that whatever "the law and the prophets" said, they said concerning himself, the Philistines quarreled with him. But he departs from them; for he cannot be with those who wish to have not water in the wells but earth; and he says to them: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." Isaac digs, then, new wells also—rather, Isaac's servants dig them. Isaac's servants are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; his servants are Peter, James, Jude; his servant is the Apostle Paul; who all dig the wells of the New Testament. But over these too do they wrangle who "are wise in earthly things" and neither suffer new ones to be established nor old ones to be cleansed. They contradict the Gospel wells, they oppose the Apostolic ones. And since in all things they contradict, in all things they contend, it is said to them: "Since you have made yourselves unworthy of the grace of God, from this time on we will go to the Gentiles."

Consider the degree of evil of those inhabitants such as even to begrudge the good man water. Not even the king, despite his having so much wealth, could withstand the impulse of envy but said, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us." What terrible malice; why, in fact, are you driving the good man off? Surely Isaac caused your subjects no harm? Surely he did no wrong? But that is what envy is like: It does nothing out of calm reason. I mean, on seeing the good man enjoying such favor from the God of all, Abimelech should rather have respected him, should rather have shown him honor so as himself to win favor from on high because of the honor shown him. But instead of doing that, he even tried to drive him off, saying, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us."That is what envy is like, after all: It cannot simply accept others' success but instead regards the neighbor's prosperity as a disaster for itself and is devastated by the neighbor's good fortune. That is precisely what happened here: having authority over the whole city and holding everyone in his thrall, the king said to this nomad, this vagrant, wandering hither and yon, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us." Isaac really was more powerful, with help from above in every circumstance and protected by God's right hand.

(Verse 17.) And Isaac departed from there and came to the valley of Gerar, and he dwelt there. The valley has a stream in Hebrew. For Isaac could not dwell in the valley after he became great. However, he dwelt by the stream, of which it is written: He shall drink from the brook by the way (Psalm 110:7). Also, during the time of famine, Elijah drank from that stream. But because Elijah was not perfect like Christ, therefore that stream dried up for him (1 Kings 17:7). Our Lord, indeed, was also handed over in the river: consecrating our regeneration and the sacrament of Baptism.

For Abraham dug wells and Isaac too—that is, the mighty patriarchs—and Jacob also, as we find in the Gospel, as if they were fountains of the human race, and specifically fountains of faith and devotion. For what is a well of living water but a depth of profound instruction? On this account Hagar saw the angel by a well and Jacob found his wife Rachel by a well; Moses too earned the first rewards of his future marriage beside a well. Therefore Isaac undertook to open wells out of a depth of vision and in good order, so that the water of his well might first wash and strengthen the reasoning faculty of the soul and its eye, to make its sight clearer.

(Verse 19) And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley of Gerar and found there a well of living water. And for this valley, a stream was written; for never is a well of living water found in the valley.

We find that the exercises of the Patriarchs concerning wells are always the customary ones. For behold, Scripture relates that Isaac, after "the Lord blessed him and he was made exceedingly great," undertook a great work. And he began, it says, to dig wells, "the wells which his father Abraham's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, but the Philistines had stopped them up and filled them with earth." First, then, "he dwelt by the well of vision," and, illumined by the well of vision, he set about opening other wells—and not first new wells, but those that his father Abraham had dug. And when he had dug the first well, "the Philistines," it says, "envied him." Yet he was not frightened by their envy nor did he yield to their spite, but "again," it says, "he dug the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug, and which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of his father Abraham; and he gave them names according to the names his father had given them." He dug, then, those wells which his father had dug and which through the malice of the Philistines had been filled with earth. He dug also others, new ones, "in the valley of Gerar"—not indeed he himself, but his servants—"and he found there," it says, "a well of living water. But the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with the shepherds of Isaac, saying that the water was theirs; and he called the name of the well 'iniquity.' For they had dealt iniquitously with him." But Isaac withdraws from their malice and "dug again another well, and over this one nonetheless," it says, "they wrangled, and he called its name 'enmity.' And he departed from there and dug yet another well, and they did not quarrel over it; and he called its name 'breadth,' saying: because now God has enlarged us and increased us upon the earth." Well does the holy Apostle, considering in a certain place the greatness of the mysteries, say: "And for these things who is sufficient?" In like manner—rather, in far unlike manner, by as much as we are far inferior to him—we too, seeing so great a depth in the mysteries of the wells, say: "And for these things who is sufficient?" For who could worthily be able to unfold either the sacraments of such great wells or the things that are reported as having been done over the wells, unless we call upon the Father of the living Word, and he himself deign to give a word in our mouth, so that for you who thirst we may be able to draw a little "living water" out of these wells so copious and manifold?

(Verse 21.) And they dug another well, and they quarreled over it. And he called its name Enmity. Concerning enmity, because Aquila and Symmachus translated it as τὴν ἀντικειμένην, and ἐναντίωσιν, which means opposing and contrary, in Hebrew it is Satana (). From which we understand Satana to be interpreted as the opposite.

Now Isaac reopened many wells that his father had dug, but strangers had filled them after the death of his father Abraham. Beyond the others he dug the following wells: one in the valley of Gerar, and he found there a well of living water; and the shepherds of Gerar disputed with Isaac's shepherds, because they claimed the water of this well as their own, and he called its name "Injustice." And he dug another well over which a quarrel arose, and he called it "Enmity." And he dug a third well, over which no dispute began among the shepherds, and he called it "Room Enough." He also dug a well and did not find water in it and called that well "Well of the Oath." Would anyone reading of these things consider that those works were earthly rather than spiritual?

(Verse 22.) And they dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it: so he called its name Broad Places; or, in Hebrew, Rehoboth, to prove what we have said above, that he himself built the city of Nineveh and its broad places (Genesis 10).

After this, then, Isaac digs a third well and "called the name of that place 'breadth,' saying: because now the Lord has enlarged us and increased us upon the earth." For truly now Isaac has been enlarged, and his name has been increased over all the earth, since he has fulfilled in us the knowledge of the Trinity. For then only "in Judea was God known" and in Israel his name was named, but now "into all the earth their sound has gone forth, and their words unto the ends of the world." For Isaac's servants, going forth throughout the whole world, dug wells and showed "living water" to all, "baptizing all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." For "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." But each one of us also, who ministers the word of God, digs a well and seeks "living water," from which to refresh his hearers. If, then, I too begin to examine the sayings of the ancients and to seek the spiritual sense in them, if I attempt to remove the veil of the law and to show that the things written are "allegorical," I indeed dig wells, but at once the friends of the letter will stir up calumnies against me and will lie in wait for me, they will straightway prepare enmities and persecutions, denying that the truth can stand except upon earth. But we, if we are Isaac's servants, let us love "the wells of living water" and the fountains; let us withdraw from the contentious and the calumniators, and leave them in the earth which they love. But let us never cease from digging "wells of living water," and, examining now the old, now also the new, let us become like that Gospel scribe of whom the Lord said: "he brings forth from his treasures things new and old." But if any of those who knows secular letters now hears me disputing, he perhaps says: these things you say are ours, and it is the learning of our art; this very thing by which you dispute and teach is our eloquence. And he moves suits against me like a certain Philistine, saying that you have dug a well in my ground, and he will think he rightly lays claim to the things that belong to his own earth. But to these things I will reply that every earth has waters, but he who is a Philistine and "is wise in earthly things" does not know how to find water in every earth, does not know how to find in every soul a rational sense and the image of God, does not know that faith, piety, and religion can be found in all. What does it profit you to have learning and not to know how to use it, to have speech and not to know how to speak? This work belongs properly to Isaac's servants, who in every earth dig "wells of living water," that is, to every soul they speak "the word of God" and find fruit. Finally, do you wish to see how many wells a single servant of Isaac dug in the land of strangers? See Paul, who "from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum filled up the Gospel of God." But over each of these wells he suffered persecutions of the Philistines. Hear him saying: "What great things befell me at Iconium, at Lystra"—how great at Ephesus? How often was he beaten, how often stoned? How often did he fight with beasts? But he persevered until he came out into "breadth," that is, until he set up churches in the breadth of the whole world. Thus, then, the wells which Abraham dug, that is, the scriptures of the Old Testament, were filled with earth by the Philistines—whether by evil teachers, scribes, and Pharisees, or even by adversary powers; and their veins were stopped up, that they might not offer drink to those who are of Abraham. For that people cannot drink from the scriptures, but suffers "thirst" for "the word of God," until Isaac comes and opens them, that his servants may drink. Thanks, then, to the Son of Abraham, Christ, of whom it is written: "the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham," who came and opened the wells for us. For he was opening them for those who said: "Was not our heart burning within us, while he opened the scriptures to us?" He opened these wells, then, and "called them," it says, "as his father Abraham had called them." For he did not change the names of the wells. And it is a marvel that even among us Moses is called Moses, and each of the prophets is addressed by his own name. For Christ did not change the names in them, but the understanding. And he changes it in this respect, that we should no longer attend to "Jewish fables" and "endless genealogies," because these indeed turn the hearing away from the truth, and are turned aside to fables. He opens the wells, then, and taught us that we should not seek God in any particular place, but should know that "in every land sacrifice is offered to his name." For now is that time "when the true worshipers worship the Father" neither in Jerusalem nor on Mount Gerizim, but "in spirit and in truth." Not, then, in a place nor in a land does God dwell, but he dwells in the heart. And if you seek the place of God, a clean heart is his place. For in this place he says he will dwell, when he says through the prophet: "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord." See, then, that perhaps even in the soul of each one of us there is "a well of living water," there is a certain heavenly sense and a hidden image of God, and this well the Philistines, that is, the adverse powers, have filled with earth. With what earth? With carnal senses and earthly thoughts, and therefore "we have borne the image of the earthly." Then, therefore, when we bore "the image of the earthly," the Philistines filled up our wells. But now, since our Isaac has come, let us receive his coming and dig our wells, let us cast the earth away from them, let us cleanse them from all filth and from all muddy and earthly thoughts, and we shall find in them "living water," that which the Lord speaks of: "he who believes in me, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." See how great is the Lord's liberality: the Philistines filled up the wells and begrudged us the thin and slender veins of water, and in their stead fountains and rivers are given back to us.

If, therefore, you too, hearing these things today, receive the hearing faithfully, Isaac works also in you, he cleanses your hearts from earthly senses, and, seeing that such great mysteries as these lie hidden in the divine scriptures, you advance in understanding, you advance in spiritual senses. You will begin even yourselves to be teachers, and "rivers of living water" will proceed from you. For the Word of God is present, and this now is his operation, that he may remove the earth from the soul of each one of you and open your fountain. For he is within you and does not come from without, just as "the kingdom of God also is within you." And that woman who had lost the drachma did not find it outside, but in her own house, after she "lit a lamp and cleansed the house" of the filth and uncleannesses which the sloth and dullness of long time had heaped up, and there she found the drachma. And you too, then, if you light a lamp, if you apply to yourself the illumination of the Holy Spirit and "in his light see light," you will find the drachma within you. For within you is placed the image of the heavenly King. For when God made man in the beginning, "he made him to his own image and likeness"; and this image he placed not without, but within him. This could not be seen in you while your house was sordid, filled with uncleannesses and rubble. That fountain of knowledge was situated within you, but it could not flow, because the Philistines had filled it with earth and had made in you "the image of the earthly." But you indeed then bore "the image of the earthly"; now, however, having heard these things, cleansed by the Word of God from all that earthly mass and oppression, make "the image of the heavenly" shine forth in you. This, then, is the image of which the Father said to the Son: "Let us make men to our image and likeness." The Son of God is the painter of this image. And because the painter is such and so great, his image can be obscured through neglect, but it cannot be destroyed through malice. For the image of God abides forever, even though you draw over yourself "the image of the earthly." This picture you paint upon yourself. For when lust has darkened you, you have laid on one earthly color; but if you also burn with avarice, you have mixed in another. And also when anger makes you bloody, you add nonetheless a third color. To pride too another dye is added, and another to impiety. And thus, through each and every kind of malice, as though by diverse colors gathered together, you paint upon yourself this "image of the earthly," which God did not make in you. Therefore he is to be entreated by us who says through the prophet: "Behold, I blot out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist." And when he has blotted out in you all those colors which were taken from the dyes of malice, then there shines forth again in you that image which was created by God. You see, then, how the divine scriptures introduce forms and figures by which the soul may be taught unto the acknowledgment or the cleansing of itself. Do you wish to see yet another form of this image? There are certain letters which God writes, certain letters which we write. The letters of sin we write. Hear the Apostle saying: "blotting out," he says, "the handwriting that was against us in the decrees, which was contrary to us, he took it out of the way, fastening it to his cross." This which he calls the handwriting was the bond of our sins. For each one of us, in the things wherein he offends, becomes a debtor and writes the letters of his own sin. Since also in the judgment of God, which Daniel describes as having taken its seat, he speaks of "books opened," without doubt such as contained the sins of men. These things, then, we write for ourselves through the things wherein we offend. For of this matter there is also that image which is spoken of in the Gospel concerning "the steward of iniquity," who says to each debtor: "Take your bond, and sitting down write eighty," and the rest that is reported. You see, then, that it is said to each: "Take your bond." Whence it is established that the letters of sin are ours; but the letters of righteousness God writes. For thus says the Apostle: "For you are an epistle inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart." You have, then, within you the letters of God and the letters of the Holy Spirit. But if you offend, you yourself write for yourself the handwriting of sin. But see that, once you have come to the cross of Christ and to the grace of baptism, your handwriting has been fastened to the cross and blotted out in the font of baptism. Do not write again the things that have been blotted out, nor restore the things that have been abolished; keep in you only the letters of God, let only the writing of the Holy Spirit remain in you. But let us return to Isaac and dig with him "wells of living water"; even if the Philistines resist, even if they wrangle, let us nevertheless persevere with him in digging wells, that to us also it may be said: "Drink water from your own vessels and from your own wells," and let us dig to such a degree that the waters of the well overflow "in our streets," so that the knowledge of the scriptures may not only suffice for us, but that we may also teach others and instruct others, that men may drink and cattle also may drink. Let the prudent hear, let the simple also each hear: for the teacher of the church is "a debtor to the wise and to the unwise," he ought to give drink to men and to give drink also to cattle; for the prophet too says: "Men and beasts you will save, O Lord," while the Lord Jesus Christ himself, our Savior, illumines us and cleanses our hearts, "to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen."

It is written in the prophet, speaking in the person of the Lord: "and in the hands of the prophets I was made like." This saying indicates that, although our Lord Jesus Christ is one according to his substance and is nothing other than the Son of God, nevertheless in the figures and forms of the Scriptures he is displayed as varied and diverse. For example, as I recall we set forth in earlier passages that he himself was in the type of Isaac, when he was being offered for a holocaust, yet he himself also held the form of the ram. I say further that he is also displayed in the angel who spoke to Abraham and says to him: "do not lay your hand upon the boy" — since again he says to him: "because you have done this thing, in blessing I will bless you." He is called the sheep or the lamb that is sacrificed at the Passover, and he himself is signified as the shepherd of the sheep; and the high priest who offers the sacrifice is nonetheless described as he himself. He is named the bridegroom, inasmuch as he is the Word of God, and again, inasmuch as he is wisdom, he himself is named the bride; as the prophet also says in his person: "as on a bridegroom he set a mitre upon me, and as a bride he adorned me with ornament," and many other things, which it would be long to pursue for now. Just as, therefore, the Lord himself, according to place and time, accommodates the form of himself to each and every occasion, so also the saints, who bore his type, are to be believed to have enacted the figures of mysteries according to places and times and occasions; as we now also see happening in Isaac, concerning whom it has been read to us: "he went up," it says, "from there to the well of the oath, and the Lord appeared to him that night, and said: I am the God of Abraham your father, fear not. For I am with you, and I will bless you, and I will multiply your seed on account of Abraham your father." The Apostle Paul has set forth for us two figures of this Isaac: one, by which he said that Ishmael indeed, the son of Hagar, held the form of the people according to the flesh, but Isaac the form of the people which is from faith; the other, by which he says: "he did not say: and to seeds, as in many, but: to your seed, as in one, which is Christ." Isaac therefore holds both the figure of the people and of Christ. But that Christ, inasmuch as he is the Word of God, speaks not only in the Gospels but also in the Law and the Prophets, is certain. Yet in the Law he teaches those beginning, in the Gospels those who are perfect. And so Isaac now holds the form of the Word which is in the Law or the Prophets.

"Isaac therefore went up to the well of the oath, and the Lord appeared to him." The going up of the Law we have said even before to be the ornament of the temple and of those divine services which were performed there. The increase of the prophets too can be named a going up of the Law; and for that reason perhaps he is said to have gone up to the well of the oath and there the Lord to have appeared to him. For through the prophets "the Lord swore, and will not repent, that he himself is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." "At the well" therefore "of the oath" God was seen by him, confirming the promises to come upon him.

"And Isaac built there an altar, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched there his tent. And the servants of Isaac dug there a well." Isaac indeed builds an altar even in the Law and pitches his tent; but in the Gospels he does not pitch a tent, but builds a house and lays a foundation. For hear Wisdom saying of the Church: "wisdom," it says, "built herself a house, and set up seven columns." Hear also Paul saying of this: "for no one can lay a foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus." Where therefore there is a tent, even if it be pitched, without doubt it must be dissolved; but where there are foundations and the house is built "upon the rock," that house is never dissolved, "for it has been founded upon the rock." Nevertheless Isaac there too digs a well, and never ceases from digging wells, until there arises "a fountain of living water" and "the rush of the river gladdens the city of God."

(Verse 26.) And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his counselor, and Phicol the commander of his army. Regarding Ahuzzath his counselor, in Hebrew it means his group of friends: it signifies not so much a single person as a crowd of friends who came with the king, among whom was also Phicol the commander of his army.

But "Abimelech" also (he who long ago had honored Abraham) now "came" with his friends "from Gerar" to Isaac: "and Isaac says to them: why have you come to me? For you have hated me and cast me out from you. To this they answer: seeing," it says, "we have seen that the Lord is with you, and we said: let there be an oath between us and you, and let us establish a covenant with you, that you do no evil with us," and the rest. This Abimelech, as I see it, does not always have peace with Isaac, but sometimes is at variance, sometimes seeks peace. If you remember how we said in earlier passages about Abimelech that he holds the person of the studious and wise of the world, who through the learning of philosophy have grasped many things even from the truth, you can understand how here with Isaac, who holds the figure of the Word of God which is in the Law, he can neither be always in dissension nor always in peace. For philosophy is neither in all things contrary to the Law of God nor in all things in agreement. For many of the philosophers write that there is one God, who created all things. In this they agree with the Law of God. Some have also added this, that God both made and governs all things through his Word, and that there is a Word of God by which all things are steered. In this they write things in agreement not only with the Law, but with the Gospels. But the moral and the physical, as it is called, philosophy — nearly all of it perceives the things that are ours. Yet it is at variance with us, when it says that matter is co-eternal with God. It is at variance, when it denies that God cares for mortal things, but confines his providence above the spaces of the lunar sphere. They are at variance with us, when they make the lives of those being born depend on the courses of the stars. They are at variance, when they say that this world is perpetual and to be closed by no end. But there are also very many other things, in which they are either at variance or in accord with us. And therefore Abimelech, according to this figure, is written to be sometimes at peace with Isaac, sometimes at variance. But this too I do not think it was without purpose a matter of care to the Holy Spirit, who writes these things, to include: that two others came with Abimelech, that is, "Ahuzzath his son-in-law and Phicol the commander of his army." Now Ahuzzath is interpreted 'holding,' and Phicol 'the mouth of all,' but Abimelech himself 'my father is king.' These three, as I judge, hold the image of the whole of philosophy, which among them is divided into three parts, logic, physics, ethics, that is, rational, natural, moral. Rational is that which confesses God the Father of all, as is Abimelech. Natural is that which is fixed and holds all things, as if relying on the powers of nature itself, which Ahuzzath professes, who is called 'holding.' Moral is that which is in the mouth of all and pertains to all and, by reason of the likeness of common precepts, is turned about in the mouth of all, which this Phicol designates, who is interpreted 'the mouth of all.' These, therefore, all instructed in learning of this kind, come to the Law of God and say: "seeing we have seen that the Lord is with you, and we said: let there be an oath between us and between you, and let us establish a covenant with you, that you do no evils with us, but just as we have not cursed you, so also may you be blessed of the Lord." These three indeed, who seek peace from the Word of God and desire to anticipate his fellowship by a covenant, can hold the figure of the magi, who come from the regions of the East, learned in their ancestral books and in the instruction of their forefathers, and say that: "seeing we have seen" "a king born," "and we saw that God is with him," "and we have come to adore him." But also, if anyone is instructed in learning of this kind, seeing that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" and marvelling at the majesty of his works, let him say: "seeing we have seen that the Lord is with you, and we said: let there be an oath between us." For, coming to the Law of God, he necessarily says: "I have sworn and determined to keep your commandments."

Let us imitate Isaac's goodness; let us imitate his purity. Isaac was certainly a good and virtuous man, devoted to God and faithful to his wife. He did not return evil for evil. He yielded to those who drove him out, but he received them again when they were sorry, being neither harsh to insolence nor obdurate to kindness. When he went away from others, he fled to avoid strife. When he received them again, he readily forgave them, and he was exceptionally kind when he pardoned. Men sought to associate with him, and he added a delightful feast.

But what do they ask? "Do not do," they say, "evils with us; but as we have not cursed you, so also may you be blessed of the Lord." They seem to me through these words to be demanding remission of sins, that they may not receive evils. They ask for a blessing, not for retribution. Finally, see what follows. "And Isaac made for them," it says, "a great feast: and they ate and drank." For it is certain that he who ministers the word "is a debtor to the wise and the unwise." Since therefore here he provides a feast for the wise, for that reason it is said that he made not a small, but a "great feast." And you too, if you are not yet a "little one" and in need of "milk," but bring "practised senses" and, with much learning sent ahead, come more capable for the understanding of the word of God, a "great feast" is made for you too. There will not be prepared for you the food of the feeble, "herbs," nor will you be nourished with "milk," with which "little ones" are nourished, but the minister of the word will make for you a "great feast." He will speak to you "wisdom," which is brought forth "among the perfect," he will bring forth to you "the wisdom of God hidden in mystery, which none of the princes of this world knew." He will reveal to you Christ, according to this, that in him "all the treasures of wisdom are hidden." He makes for you therefore a "great feast" and he himself feasts with you, if he does not find you such that he must say to you that: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal; as to little ones in Christ." This he says to the Corinthians, to whom he also adds: "for since there are contentions and dissensions among you, are you not carnal, and do you walk according to man?" For these Paul "did not make a great feast," to such a degree that, when he was among them and was in need, he was a burden to none, nor ate bread freely from anyone; but his own hands, labouring night and day, ministered to himself and to all who were with him. So far, therefore, were the Corinthians from having a "great feast" made for them, that the preacher of the word of God could not have among them even the least or slightest feast. But those who know how to hear more perfectly, who bring learned and "practised senses" to the hearing of the word of God, for these a "great feast" is made, with these Isaac feasts, and not only feasts, but also, rising up with an oath, promises them peace concerning things to come. Let us therefore also pray to approach the hearing of the word of God with such a mind, with such faith, that he may deign to make for us a "great feast." For "Wisdom has slain her victims, has mingled her wine in the bowl, and has sent her servants," that they may lead to her feast all, as many as they may find. Only let us, having entered the feast of wisdom, not again bring with us the garments of foolishness, not clothed about with the garment of unfaithfulness, not darkened with the stains of sins, but in simplicity and purity of heart let us embrace the word and serve the divine wisdom, which is Christ Jesus our Lord, "to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen."

(Verse 32 and 33.) And the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, 'We have found water.' So he called it Shebah. I don't know how it is translated in the Septuagint: 'And the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, 'We have not found water.' So he called it Oath.' What is the etymology behind calling it Oath just because they did not find water? On the contrary, in Hebrew, which Aquila and Symmachus agree with in interpretation, this signifies that they found water, and therefore the well itself was called Saturation, and the city was called Beersheba, which means well of saturation (Gen. XXI): for although above we asserted that Beersheba was called so from the word of the oath, or from the number seven of the sheep, which is called Sabee, now because water was found, Isaac turned slightly the letter to the name of the city, which was thus called alluding, and instead of the harsh sound of the Hebrews Sin, from which Sabee begins, he placed the Greek sigma, which is the Hebrew Samech: otherwise, according to the law of allegory, after so many wells at the end of virtues, it does not at all agree that Isaac did not find water.

See how much can be learned from these few words. I mean, why did it indicate to us Esau's age? Not idly, but for us to learn from it Isaac's advanced years and the fact that he was now well beyond his prime. You see, if we recall what was said before, that at the time he married Rebekah he was in fact forty years old, whereas when the children were born he was sixty, we will realize that now at a hundred he had reached the height of old age. Since, in fact, it is next about to recount to us that because of his age he had poor eyesight, accordingly it indicates his age to us so that we might be in a position to know precisely Isaac's time of life. So it said, "Now, Esau was forty."Then for us to learn the boy's indiscretion in taking brides from races he should not have, it revealed to us that one was from the race of the Hittites, the other from the Hivites. Yet knowing as Esau did the pains taken by the patriarch in giving express orders to his servant to select a bride for Isaac from his own tribe and the fact that their mother Rebekah came from Haran, he should not have set his mind on any such thing. In order, however, to show from the outset the undisciplined character of Esau's behavior, he took those wives before seeking advice. And for us to learn their intractable nature Scripture says, "They were at odds with Isaac and Rebekah." What could be more galling than this antipathy when they were due to show complete respect and not only did not do this but were even prepared for hostility?